Keratin enameling composition



Cal

ond. A A very important advantage of the pure Patented Sept. 20, 1932 UNITED [STATES PATENT; OFFICE CARLETON ELLIS, 10F M ONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGN'OIR 'IO, ELLIS-FOSTER COMPANY,

j i .A. CORPORATION vOF NEW JERSEY i 1 xnnnrm ENAMELING comrosrrron No Drawing.

This invention relates to keratin enameling compositions, and relates in particular to compositions which are adapted to flow readily over, and adhere to surfaces of keratin. The invention is especially directed to meet the requirements of the cosmetic field in the form of a finger nail enamel, but is likewise applicable to the enameling of horn and other.keratinous substances. The illustrations given herein are, therefore, \COII- cerned with the production of a finger nail enamel or gloss producing coating composition specifically for application of the surface of finger nails to enhance the lustre thereof. Such a composition should be capable'of application with a soft brush and should flow freely while at the same time it should have quick-drying properties. The.

coating should be water-resistant and not be prone to peel or scale easil from the finger nails after the hands have can immersedin hot water. Furthermore, the coating should not turn white, nor spot when contacted with water. The requirement of quick-drying qualities" in conjunction with reasonably good brushabilit may be secured by using as a solvent vehicle a well refined grade of synthetic anhydrous methanol. When made by the synthetic process and highly refined, methanol is practically free from odor and is a good solvent for nitrocellulose, not requiring the addition of any other solvent to put the nitrocellulose into solution.

While various grades of nitrocellulose may be employed, I prefer to use one which yields the lowest viscosity consistent with adequate toughness'of coating. Substantial ly anhydrous methanol isa ood-solvent for nitrocellulose in its various orins. It is not necessary to use the so-called alcohol-soluble nitrocelluose when methanol is the solvent vehicle. Alcohol-soluble nitrocellulose of 'low viscosity may, however,,be used'for the purpose, and I find it desirable to employ such alcohol-soluble nitrocellulose ofa 'very low viscosity ranging up to about one-half secanhydrous methanol is the fact that the absence of odor enables the enamel composi- Application filed {May 23,

- nails.

employed.

1928. semi No. 280,121.

tion to be prepared in practically odorless form, or to contain additions of perfumes which give the product a pleasant odor. I seek in particular to avoid the employment of the customary nitrocellulose solvents of the well known ester type such as butyl acetate, amyl acetate, and the like, which yield a pronounced and objectionable banana-like odor, as a constituent of the solvent vehicle. When using such powerful fruity-smelling esters itis diflicult if not impossiblev practically to introduce sufiicient perfume to conceal or fully mask the banana odor. well known that the'ban-ana odor of these esters is disagreeable to many persons and especially in products such as finger nail enamel intended for boudoir use. An odorless product or one which has an agreeable perfume odor therefore is needed.

Commercially-pure synethetic anhydrous methanol may be employed, in which is dis It is' solved nitrocellulose of say, one fourth second viscosity, to form a solution containing preferably from 10'to 20 per cent, or more, of the nitrocellulose. It is desirable not to have the composition highly viscous as too large a quantity is likely then to be taken on the brush and form an unnecessarily thick coating. A comparatively thin iree-flowing solution containing, for example, 15 per cent of the very low viscosity nitrocellulose is suitable. To this solution there may be added a small amount of a pink or red coloring-agent soluble in the methanol, such coloring ageiit being introduced in a quantity adequate to give a pinkish tone when the coating dries on finger ing horn or other articles where a different color is required, then difierent dyestuffs or pigments may be utilized.

In some cases a heavier solvent may If the enamel is to be used for coattroduced to serve as a water-eliminant and If butyl acetate were ethylene glycol, adding 15'to 20 per cent thereof to the methanol. In like manner the ethyl ether of ethylene; glycol sometimes may be hesejaethers, being practically 90 be inodorless, do not affect the desirable qualities of the methanol and are of possible value for application in humid climates, in case the methanol should not properly eliminate the moisture from the film. It is not necessary, however, for general purposes to employ a high-boiling water-eliminant asthe methanol solution applied to the finger nails evaporates and carries away any water which may be present or absorbed from the air, yielding a clear transparent coating on the nails. The

warmth of the fingers appears to favor this concomitant water elimination.

Also, if the perfume-oil were present in large .one which blends well with nitrocellulose,

the solution a very It is alsopossible to add plasticizers such as dillblityl phthalate, tricresyl phosphate, and t e ike.

a An important feature is that of the possibility of introducing perfume-oils to provide an agreeable flowery odor. Since the solvent vehicle possesses practically no odor, it is not generally desirable ornecessary to add more than a small proportion of the perfume-oil. This is desirable from the standpoint of cost.

proportion it might disturb the effect of other perfumes used elsewhere on the person. The

present invention permits of the use of scarcecize the nitrocellulose thereby avoiding tendency to brittleness, while at the, same time a giving to the solution a desirable fragrance.' The difiiculty which thus may arise when using degraded nitrocellulose of a viscosity less than one-half second that the coating tends to become slightly brittle may be avoided by the employment of such lasticizing-perfumes having this double unction.

tion of low viscosity is to dissolve in anhydrous methanol a quanity of nitrocellulose of say, one-half second viscosity, and add to small proportion of ammonia or other al tion is allowed to stand until the viscosity has fallen to the desired degree when the action of the alkaline (reagent may be checked by the addition of the requisite amount of an acid body to acquire neutrality. In this way solutions of a viscosityof one-tenth of a second, or even less, may be secured.

Reduction 'in viscositymay be secured in One manner of preparing an efiective solualine'reagent. The soluother ways, as for example by special heat treatment. It is desirable to avoid discoloration of the nitrocelluloseto an extent such that the purity of the coloring efi'ectI obtained by the dye is not impaired.

The following are illustrations of various keratin enameling" compositions which may be prepared in accordance with the present invention: r

Example 1 Nitrocellulose of one-half second viscosity was dried to remove alcohol and moisture and 10 parts by weight were dissolved ina solvent consisting substantially of anhydrous methyl alcohol. 85 parts and mono-methyl ether ofethylen'e glycol 15 parts. To this composition there was added a plasticizing perfume consisting of equal parts of benzyl acetate, benzaldehyde and lilac oil. The quantity introduce was j ust' sufiicient to give the composition a faint but distinct perfume odor. 1

The nitrocellulose used in the foregoing ,example was not the alcohol-soluble variety,

that is to say, it did not dissolve in ethyl alcohol, although it was sufficiently soluble in the substantially anhydrous methyl alcohol.

Ez vample 2 P t Alcohol-soluble nitrocellulose of one-half a! a second viscosity (dry weight 10 Ethyl alcohol; 3 Synthetic anhydrous methanol 57 Jasmine oil I Eat-ample 3 Alcohol-soluble nitrocellulose of one-half second viscosity 15 parts ;(wet with ethyl cohol) was dissolved in 40 parts methanol and approximately one-half part of concentrated aqueous ammonia water (ammonium hydroxide solution) was added. The mixture was allowed to stand for several hours when a noticeable reduction in viscosity below theoriginal one-half second viscosity was observed. A slight change in color took place, the solution acquiring a faint brownish tone.

.The'nitrocellulose used in Example 3 contained 30 per centof ethyl alcohol in the form prdinarily used in shipping wet nitrocelluose.

Example Alcohol-soluble nitrocellulose of one-half second viscosity (wet with alcohol as above) 15 parts, was treated with a solvent vehicle consisting of 20 parts synthetic anhydrous methanol and 20 parts anhydrous ethanol.

The nitrocellulose did not dissolve as freely as in Example 3, since the ethanol is not as good a solvent as methanol. -More fibre was present and other indications of undissolved material. This mixture was treated with part concentrated ammonia water. as used in Example 3, and the composition was allowed to stand to decrease ,in viscosity. A substantial drop took place.

The solution obtained in Example 4, as

also applies to any other formulae given herein, may be filtered or centrifuged to remove undissolved material in order, to prepare a 'clear product wholly free from sediment.

To the product of Examples 3 and 4 various perfume oils may be added. It is desirable to age compositions to which perfume is added in order to secure a higher degree 'of fragrance. This aging treatment also permits settling of any undissolved material to take place so that at the end of a week or two Eacample 5 Nitrocellulose of one-fourth second viscosity wet with per cent by weight of ethyl alcohol was dissolved in methanol in the proportion of 15 parts by weight of the wet nitrocellulose to parts of methanol.. This gave a good solution which when applied in a thin layer to the finger nail produced a'blush-freecoating of high lustre.

While I have set forth employment of methanol, it is understood that I do not wish to be limited to the anhydrous product, but may employ synthetic methanol of a strength adequate to form a blush-free coating on drying. Thus, in Example 5, the ethyl alcohol used to wet the nitrocellulose contained some water, hence the mixture was not anhyin the foregoing the dious. Nevertheless, an excellent solution of good clarity and low viscosity resulted,

which, as stated, did notblush on. drying. Tests were made both on finger nails andon other surfaces andblushing was not observed. It should be noted that the nitrocellulose used in this example was not the grade known as alcohol-soluble. I

Example 6 The neutralized composition of Example 4: was plasticized with a perfuming aldehyde designated commercially as having 14 carbon atoms in the molecule.

E mamgile 7 r Syringa oil was used in the neutralized composition of Example 4.

substantially anhydrous Ewample The one-fourth second nitrocellulose solution of Example 5 was perfumed with terpineol.

I I Example 9 The one-fourth second nitrocellulose'solution of Example 5 was performed with cinnamic aldehyde.

The proportions of the perfume were adjusted to give a fragrant odor. This will vary with the strength of the perfume-oil.

- Based on the total weight of the composition there may be used from 1 per cent or less, up to 5 per cent or'even more of the perfuming medium.

WVhat I claim is z- 1. A keratinenameling composition comprising nitrocellulose of less than one-half second viscosity dissolved in a substantially odorless solvent vehicle comprising substantially anhydrous synthetic methanol.

2. A keratin enameling composition comprising nitrocellulose of less than one-half second viscosity dissolved in a substantially odorless solvent vehicle comprising substantially anhydrous synthetic methanol with which is incorporated a perfuming plasticizer.

3. A keratin enameling composition comprising low viscosity nitrocellulose dissolved in a substantially odorless solvent rapid drying vehicle and carry'ng a small proportion of a perfuming body ending with the nitrocellulose.

4. A keratin enameling composition consisting of approximately one-fourth second viscosity nitrocellulose dissolved in synthetic.

methanol of a strength adequate to form a blush-free coating on drying.

5. A keratin enameling composition consisting substantially of nitrocellulose of low viscosity dissolved in a solvent vehicle comprising substantially anhydrous synthetic methanol, the composition containing from 10 to 20% of nitrocellulose,-said composition being substantially odorless.

'6.-A keratin enameling composition consisting substantially of nitrocellulose of less than one-half second viscosity dissolved in a solvent vehicle comprising substantially anhydrous synthetic methanol, and containing a water eliminant, the composition being substantially odorless.

7.. A keratin enameling composition comprising nitrocellulose of less than one half second viscosity dissolved in a substantially odorless solvent vehicle comprising substantially anhydrous synthetic methanol, and containing a glycol ether.

8. As an article of manufacture, an aged keratin enameling composition comprising nitrocellulose dissolved in a substantially odorless solvent vehicle comprising substantially anhydrous synthetic methanol.

4 a v I 1,878,471

9. As an article of manufacture, an aged keratin enameling composition comprising low viscosity nitrocellulose dissolved in a substantially odorless solvent vehicle, and l 'E carrying a small proportion of a perfuming body blending with the nitrocellulose.

10. The process which comprises 'producing a keratin enameling composition comprising nitrocellulose, a, substantially odorless solvent and a per-fuming piasticizer, and

' aging the same. =1

11. The process which comprises producing a keratin enameling composition comprising 10v; viscosity nitrocellulose, a substantially odorlesssolvent vehicle comprising' substantially anhydrous synthetic methanol, and a per-fuming plasticizer, and aging the same. 7 p

12. The process which comprises allowing a keratin enameling composition comprising low viscositynitrocellulose dissolved in asubstantially odorless solvent vehicle and carrying a smallproportion of a perfumin'g body blending with the nitrocellulose, to stand until aging and clarification have taken place.

CARLETON ELLIS. 

